Fight For It
by EpicStelena
Summary: What if Stefan had been in Elena's room at the end of 3X08  Ordinary People , instead of Damon? What would he want? ONE-SHOT


**Rated K**

**A/N- What if Stefan had been in Elena's room at the end of 3X08 (Ordinary People), instead of Damon? what would he want? **

It had been a long day, and all Elena really wanted to do was get a good night's sleep. Alaric, with the help of Bonnie had figured out some pieces to the Original's back-story puzzle. But it wasn't until Elena confronted Rebekah herself that she got any answers. And she got more than she bargained for.

She came to realize that in many ways Rebekah was just an ordinary girl, who had just happened to have lived much longer than Elena had herself. She lost her Mother way too young and had her life built upon deceit and lies fed to her from her brother Klaus. The truth that her brother and not their father Mikael had killed her Mother came shattering down on Rebekah like a hail storm.

Elena exited the bathroom she shared with her brother Jeremy and sleepily began walking to her bed. Before she could get any farther than three steps, she halted at the sight of the Salvatore brother strewn across her bed. It wasn't that she wasn't used to him there. He had been there so many times before, it was like she couldn't remember a time he wasn't there. She just wasn't _expecting _him.

_"What...what __are __you __doing __here?"_

She didn't mean to come off as though she wanted him to leave. She _hoped _she didn't sound like that.

_"Nice __to __see __you __too, __Elena."_

His voice was laced with sarcasm, and he looked exhausted. He rubbed his hand over his face and took a deep breath.

_"I __wanted __to __see __you. __I __needed __to... talk __to s__omeone. __And...there's __no __one __else."_

With this she decided to keep her mouth shut and just go with it. If she said anything about _hope, __emotion, __feelings,_ anything like that, he might not say what he needed to say and he might just get up and storm out.

She made her way over to the bed and undid the covers. She fluffed her pillow. Set her alarm clock. She did everything she normally did on nights he'd stayed over with her. She was well aware of his eyes on her the entire time. She was also aware of his scent. The scent of alcohol, the rain from the outdoors, his soap from home, and something that made him undeniably _Stefan._

She hadn't been this close to him since she tried to fix him using Vampire Rehab- Lexi Style. But at that time there was too much stress and angst in the air to notice much of anything besides Stefan's survival as a decent person, let alone his scent.

_"I __can __move __over __to __the __window __seat..."_

His voice caught her out of her reverie.

_"No __you're __good, __you __can __stay above __the __covers __if __you __want." __If __you __want_ being the operative words. And why was he worried about her comfort anyway?

Stefan knew he was treading sensitive waters here. He _remembered _how he cared, but he couldn't _feel __it._ And every time he looked at her, looked into her eyes, he _wanted _to feel it. He didn't know how to talk to her without getting too much of her hopes up that he was coming out of it. He didn't need any more lectures.

Elena laid down and tucked the covers under her chin. She turned to him expectantly, but didn't say a word.

_"Damon __sprung __me __today. __We __went __out, __and __Mikael __found __us."_ He waited for a reaction. He knew that she had heard all of this already from Damon, but waited anyway. When she didn't say anything, he continued. _"He __wanted __to __know __were __Klaus __was __and __I __couldn't __tell __him. __Then __he __threatened __Damon's __life."_

Elena didn't know this part. Damon kept it from her, probably afraid she'd be worried. She tried to keep her shock to a minimum. Her eyes widened, but she made no gasps, and kept her mouth shut.

_"He __shoved __his __fist __into __Damon's __chest __and __threatened __to __pull __his __heart __out __unless __I __told __him __where __Klaus __was."_

At this Elena put her hand to her mouth and nearly gasped. She almost said, _Oh __My __God,_ but caught herself. Stefan noticed her reaction to the news of the umpteenth attempt on Damon's life. He _knew_ she cared for him. He didn't know what, if anything went down between them over the summer. Did he _want _to care? Was he _starting_ to care?

_"I __told __him __I __could __lure __Klaus __back __to __Mystic __Falls. __So __he __let __Damon __go. __But __then __he __said __something __interesting."_

At this she finally spoke. _"What?"_ She was eager now for this new information. After all, getting Klaus back to Mystic Falls meant possibly killing him, which meant possibly getting Stefan his humanity back.

_"He __said, __'and __there's __our __loophole, __you __just __have __to __rile __him __up __a __bit."_

Elena was lost. "What does _that_ mean?"

_"It __means __that __if __he __or __any one __else __can __threaten __someone __I __care __about __or __cared __about __before __the __compulsion, __with __enough __force, __then __maybe __it'll __make __me __break __through __it, __even __if __it's __just __long __enough __to __save __them. __And __he __was __right. __I __did __save __Damon."_ He took a deep breath and looked away.

_"What __is __it __Stefan?"_ She knew he was ashamed of something. She'd been with him for only a year but could read him so well. She knew there was something else weighing on his mind, that he _cared _enough to want to get something off his chest to her. This was a big deal.

He turned his head and looked straight into her eyes. She could have sworn they could burn right into her soul._"I __was __so close __to __not __saving __him. __After __all __the __shit __I __went __through __this __summer __to __save __his __life, __I __almost __let __Mikael __take __it __in __a __second, __and everything I went through __would __be __all __for __nothing. __And __I __cared, __Elena. __I'm __admitting __that __to __you."_

_"That's __a __good __thing __Stefan; __it __means __you __can __fight __through __this."_ She didn't want to preach, but the conversation wasn't lending itself in another direction at this point. And obviously he came to her for a reason. He needed to believe in himself, to know that _she _believed in _him._

He looked at her, at how strong she was, how independent she had become over these past couple of months. He briefly remembered her staking him after he called her pathetic for having hope. He internally winced at that scene playing in his mind. He _wanted_ to care, he _wanted_ to love. He had tried so hard to convince himself that all he wanted to do was be free and run away from Mystic Falls to engage in all the seductive behaviors vampires behave in. But his memories didn't lie. He _knew,_ he just _knew _that with Elena, despite all the tragedy that had befallen their relationship in the past, he had never had it so good.

_"What __is __it?"_ She looked at him expectantly, with concern.

He realized he hadn't said a word in a minute or so.

_"What __I __came __here __to __tell __you, is __that __you __were __right. __That __I __need __to __feel __something or __I'll l__ose __you. __And __even __if __I __can't __feel __how __good __it __was __between __us right __now, __I __remember __it __Elena. __And __I'd __rather __have __emotions, even __the __bad __ones, than __nothingness."_

She nodded, with a slight smile. She didn't want to overreact, knowing he wasn't there yet. He had miles and miles to go. _"I __don't __know __how __to __help __you." _All she knew were Lexi's methods, and he was out now and Klaus was returning, and there was so much uncertainty still.

_"The __focus __is __on __killing __Klaus __right __now. __One __thing __at __a __time."_

They were now face to face lying on her bed, she under the covers, him over. He began to get up to leave, when she stopped him.

_"Stefan? __Can __you __do __me __a __favor?"_

He was a bit taken aback, but curious as to what it was.

_"What?"_

She put her hand to where he'd been laying. _"Will __you __just __stay __with __me __until __I __fall __asleep? __I __promise __once __I __do, __you __can __leave __whenever __you __want __to."_

He thought it odd that she would even want him there. Given his ripper status and the fact that he had his emotions shut off _for __the __most __part,_ he reasoned, and had hurt her tremendously. But he had sworn to protect her, and staying there with her was one of the best ways to do so, or so he told himself.

_"Sure."_

Stefan lay back down on top of the bed. Elena reached back and shut off the light, then turned once more to face him, with her eyes closed.

_"Thank __you. __Goodnight __Stefan."_

Just then Stefan had a random memory of the two of them pop into his head as he often does, most of the time they don't mean anything.

_"You're __staring."_

_"I'm __gazing."_

_"It's __creepy."_

_"It's __romantic."_

He felt a long dormant pang in his chest, for the second time today. The first one happened when he saved Damon's life.

_"Goodnight __Elena."_


End file.
